Someone posted to a group that he quoted the line "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun" to his agent. The agent looked confused, so he explained, "It's a line from Noel Coward." The agent said, "Who?"

It's another age thing. We find that people we have to deal with every day are so much younger than we that they don't understand us, and vice versa. I've learned to nod when people say things like, "You know, like the dress Eva Longoria wore to that award show." Counterproductive to admit that I don't watch award shows and even if I did, I have no idea which overexposed woman there was which.

Our stuff, our very important stuff, is blending into history, and is therefore forgotten by most. My sister's shocking moment came when she was asked, "Did you know Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?"

One author tells of his agent making him change the term "walking point," claiming that she didn't know what it meant and didn't think others would. Depends on the age of the others, I suppose.

I was embarrassed once when a former student praised my "kicks" and I had to ask what that was. That was a few years ago, and probably no one calls shoes that anymore, so why would I bother to add it to my already overcrowded vocabulary? The commercial where the two kids explain to their obviously uncomprehending parents how to text them isn't funny to me. If I had to text you this message, it wouldn't have a chance of arriving.

It's bad enough that the next generation doesn't recognize the icons of our generation, doesn't even care to know more about them. It's worse when we aren't allowed to use perfectly useful phrases just because they're a little dated. Honest, I'm trying to give up "neat" and I never once in my life used "groovy." So speak to me in words that have meaning to my generation, and please stop trying to explain what an MP3 player will do for my entertainment. Leave me in the Stone(s) Age, where I can still get Satisfaction.

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